Cava's trial separation

A group of Cava producers decided to break away from the DO and create their own association. James Lawrence looks at the complicated birth of Corpinnat.

Cava Recaredo/Marcal Font

It was in January 2019 that Xavier Gramona and Ton Mata told Cava Denominación de Origen (DO) president Javier Pagés that they were leaving the group. “I remember the meeting as if it was yesterday,” says Gramona, president of the eponymous Cava producer. “Javier Pagés came to my house and Ton Mata and I broke the news. He was clearly very disappointed and troubled by our decision, but the meeting was civil enough. He could sense our resolve – we were not going to be dissuaded.”

The decision to leave the Cava framework in favour of a new designation – Corpinnat – was a last resort, an option that Gramona would not even consider for some time. “It was always my goal to change Cava from within, to forge a stronger quality image of Spanish sparkling wine,” he says. “The first meetings between the Corpinnat Board and the DO authorities began in February 2018.”